How deep is your love? Explore user attachment to digital sharing platforms

Abstract

International audienceWhile sharing platforms have shown their continued rise and growing importance in recent years, they now operate in competitive market conditions and a changing environment: scam issues (Vinted platform), legal evolution (Airbnb issue). Today, it is becoming essential for digital sharing platforms to develop strong and durable relationships with users. In this context, platform attachment is the key to success (Li et al., 2022). This study explores a concept widely used in marketing literature, brand attachment, within the context of sharing platforms. A qualitative study was conducted among users of the HomeExchange platform to identify andbetter understand the platform attachment construct. Our exploratory study reveals five user profiles and suggests that while user experiences impact satisfaction, which leads to platform attachment, user compatibility remains the key factor. This study contributes to the marketing literature by investigating the role of user attachment to sharing platforms and provides a holistic understanding of how platform attachment develops